Families NOT the Source of All Evil
According to Barbara Ehrenreich in “Are Families Dangerous?,” families are the most dangerous place to be, because of several reasons. First, for women the most unsafe place to be is inside her own home. This is because the people who love you the most are the ones who abuse and murder their loved ones. According to Charles Fourier, “the family is the barrier to human progress,” which leads me to believe that Ehrenreich is trying to portray the family as a downside to our society instead of a positive aspect of our lives. Subsequently, there is no such thing as the “functional” family, each and every family needs counseling and policies to provide guidance. Families cause damage to children because of a constant attack on one’s self esteem. Most importantly, according to Ehrenreich families are the source of violence within our world, she believes if we would disband our families our world would be a much improved living environment.
The article I discussed was, “Are families dangerous?,” by Barbara Ehrenreich. This article gave copious reasons for what the family does to destroy ones self esteem or even ones physical well being. Ehrenreich stated numerous facts that supported her view upon the American family. She used two human sources, one being Charles Fourier (French Philosopher) and a British anthropologist by the name of Edmund Leach. Both of these men agreed that the family was the source of all evil within our society. She also used specific court cases that indicated domestic violence within the home. Each of these cases are widely known to Americans, due to the media coverage on each case. Allowing her to illustrate the numerous occasions domestic violence has occurred within in society.
When my group discussed the facts that she brought forward within the article we each came to the conclusion that families are NOT the source of all evil in this world. Although, she cited an abundance of sources, we all believe families are what makes a child a proper and well-caring human being.
After the Civil War, blacks were provided with rights they probably never dreamed of having during slavery. They were made citizens of the United States and given equal protection under the laws. If you were male, and of a certain age, you were also given the ballot. Each of these things represented both a great victory for for the freed people, and the promise of a bright future.
One definition is “a significant social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” While such definition is a good starting point, some modern family structures are excluded by such definition. In her essay, “Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy,” Betty Farrell apparently assumes that the traditional family has dramatically changed, and the dynamics of change—altered the definition of a “family.” A family is no longer a picture of a particular image of the mythic past, referring to the golden days of the “1950s.” It is no longer a father, mother and their biological children living together under one roof (and certainly not with the a breadwinner father and a stay-at-home mother). In today 's modern society, it is now common to see women raising their children by themselves without their husbands’ help; unmarried couples living together; and gay and lesbian couples—while far from being universally accepted—adopting and raising children to complete their families. Therefore, despite the children living in one-parent households, or they do not live with their “married-heterosexual-biological-parents” under the same roof—does not necessarily mean they are not families. Farrell states that “a family is defined not so much by a particular set of people as by the quality of relationships that bind them together.” In other words, Farrell believes that a “family” is more than just a collection
In chronicling how the family structure has changed in America, it is important to understanding how family was actually defined. When referencing Leave it to Beaver (further referred to as LITB) times, family took on a substantive definition, or the idea that family was equivalent to relative, or related by blood or law. While this definition of family served the time period, it failed to evolve with society. For that reason, sociologists set out to determine a “more inclusive functionalist definition,” that focuses on what families do. “A functionalist definition of families focuses on how families provide for the physical, social, and emotional needs of individuals and of society as a whole” (Witt). With that, the functionalist perspective identifies six primary functions, which include reproduction, socialization, protection, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship, and...
After the Civil War came the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction gave some power back to the states and eventually brought the states back together. It gave the state’s power by allowing them to govern themselves under military commanders from the Union. Although this brought the 14th amendment which gave former
The Civil War was a very brutal time yet what came after was even more tragic. It was called Reconstruction. . Reconstruction means to re-build. After the Civil War, which occurred between the years 1861-1865, most of America wanted to re-build and preserve the Union. The Reconstruction era did not last though. Both the North and the South played roles in destroying the Reconstruction though the South played a bigger role in killing it. The South had a bigger impact on killing the Reconstruction because of things the Ku Klux Klan did and how the southern states were formed their government.
We all have heard that having a college degree will promote your salary income. According to William Nickels, James McHugh, and Susan McHugh authors from Understanding Business, “the gap between the earning of high school graduates and college graduates, which is growing every year, now ranges from 60 to 70 percent.” Albert Einstein once said, “The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think.” Whether, expanding one 's knowledge, creating opportunities, striving for a college degree, or, just finding what your interests are, everyone is seeking to be successful. With today’s economy, individuals are becoming more inquisitive on the value of engaging in higher education and its benefits. Besides the potential for higher income, college offers a myriad of benefits for those who take part in academia such as networking, real world problem solving, personal growth, and intellectual challenge.
Violent behavior by men against their family members were traditionally considered private matters. We recognize public violence as being morally wrong or socially destructive. Domestic violence and child abuse are two forms of private violence that were more or less immune from public scrutiny and considered inappropriate for "outsiders" to intervene in unless the problem reached extreme proportions.
THOSE OF US WHO grew up in the 1950s got an image of the American family that was not, shall we say, accurate. We were told, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and Ozzie and Harriet were not just the way things were supposed to be—but the way things were
The thirteenth amendment was added in 1865, proposing that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except for punishment of a crime, shall be convicted within the United States”. This amendment protected African-Americans from being convicted of crimes, just because of the color of their skin and being a slave. African American were convicted many times before and during the war because they were slaves. Section 2 of the thirteenth amendment was proposed as well, which stated: “Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” This section gave Congress the power over the amendment instead of the local state governments. African American’s after the war wanted a few issues resolved that would give them rights as citizens. One of the main issues, African-Americans wanted to resolve was their marriages being declared by the state officials. Before and during the war, many slaves hold their own marriage ceremonies but was not seen legal by the state. Another issue they wanted to resolve was the right of education for their children. Slaves were originally not allowed to learn how to read and write or be educated in any way. They did not want slaves to have an education because it would make them equal to them. A freed Mississippi slave stated, “I shall give my children a chance to go to school, For I consider education, the next best ting to Liberty”. Many slaves believed that education was the only way they would be seen as citizen’s Slaves also wanted more housing and opportunities across the South. Also, before the war slaves were not allowed in any place other than their slave owner plantations. After the war, local governments gave slaves forty acres and a mule, which helped freedmen get their own housing. When it comes to jobs after the war, slaves wanted more labor opportunities in the south. The industry of sharecropping rose after the
Today in America, there seems to be an overwhelming amount of violent crime that takes place. Watching the nightly news, one could take a tally of the numerous attacks and deaths that are reported. Violence is not a new phenomenon, however. From Cain murdering Abel, to massacres at villages being raided, to the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the attacks of September 11, 2001, violence is ever present. The focus of this paper is a subset of violence, domestic violence. The societal question being posed in this paper is: Has domestic violence increased over the past twenty five years or is it just being reported better? While it may seem like a simple question, the answer is quite perplexing. Though there has been a statistical reduction in domestic violence, domestic violence continues to be an epidemic (Montaldo, Vagianos).
The Expectancy Theory of Motivation states that motivation is a result of a rational calculation; people do what they want. Expectancy is the probability that work effort will be followed by performance accomplishment, instrumentality is the probability that performance will lead to various work outcomes, and valence is the value to the individual of various work outcomes. When any of these categories are diminished, then overall motivation will decrease. In this case, Mary may not feel self-confident that she has the skills and education to complete the job given by her manager. Although she was given a ten percent increase in pay, her salary was still lower than the average co-worker. Therefore, she is still lacking a difference in pay between herself and Sue after the raise. Therefore, since she is low, motivation will be significantly also lower. The Expectancy Theory Predication explains Vroom process which employees undergo when making personal choices. The theory suggests that motivation is the result of a rational calculation people will so what they want to do. Individuals may have different sets of goals, they can be motivated if they believe that there is a positive link between efforts and performance, favorable performance will result in a desirable reward, the reward will satisfy an important need or/and the desire to
College education opens many doors and offers many advantages and opportunities. On average, people with higher education achieve an income of almost double than those who only have a high school diploma. Therefore, throughout their life, a graduate of a university can have an income of around $2 million, while a graduate from high school only reach $1 million. In fact, the gap between the income of a person with a college degree and income of a person with a high school diploma has expanded in recent decades, and it is estimated that in the future the gap it will continue to expand.
“Is College Worth it? Clearly, New Data Says” by David Leonhardt, “The Value of a College Degree” by Emily Hanford, “New study shows the value of a college education” by Hope Yen, and “Is College Worth It Anymore” by Kristen Sturt, all primarily discuss the advantages of a college education and its true value. In the United States, the student debt is over $1.2 trillion dollars. It is the second largest cause of debt following mortgage debt. When the media spends so much time talking about the limitations of a college education, they are discouraging some students from attending college. Regardless of all the debt, attending college and attaining a higher education is the best decision a student pursuing a bright future, could make today.
Sociologists look at society from either a macro or micro view and the theories that define their work are based on those perspectives. There are several family theories that we learned about this semester. Briefly, Structural-Functionalism and Conflict Theory are “macro” theories in sociology. Structural-Functionalism sees society as a living machine made up of different parts which work together for the good of society. Individuals, as well as Institutions work together, and the family is the key to the well-functioning machine. Emile Durkheim, considered the Father of Sociology argues social solidarity, where people do the right thing, create harmony and have shared values. According to Durkheim the nuclear family is the only type of institution that can achieve that. Conflict Theory sees society as a pyramid with those at the top having more power and influence than those at the bottom. Males in society have more power than females. There is a power imbalance, which could lead to oppression o...
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, family refers to “a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head.” Family can be seen as the most important aspect in life and what mostly everyone values the most. Furthermore it can be considered as a universal institution which includes people that are related by blood and emotionally. Within society, there exists the idea of a “Model Family.” First of all, this model includes married parents with kids. However, the dissolution of a marriage challenges the socially approved idea of a “Model Family.” As a consequence, the family moves to being a single parent structure, since there is only one living with the kids. The separation of a couple is the result of a process whose crisis starts with